Jeremy Casey

Chairman Kelvin Thomas has updated Cobblers fans on the club’s continued attempts to strengthen the Sixfields squad - and confirmed that former Town striker Ivan Toney is one of their targets.

The Newcastle United forward, who began his career at Sixfields before being sold to the Magpies in the summer of 2015, has just finished a loan spell at Shrewsbury Town and is mulling over a return to Sixfields.

“We have done whatever we can to bring Ivan Toney back to the club,” said Thomas.

“He has returned to Newcastle United from his loan spell at Shrewsbury Town, and the decision is now with him.”

Toney’s return on a loan deal would be a popular one among the Cobblers fans.

His first spell at the club saw him score 13 goals in 29 starts and 31 substitute appearances, with three of those goals coming in crucial wins against Dagenham and Oxford United at the end of the 2013/14 season, helping to keep the club in the Football League.

We have also done whatever we can to bring Ivan Toney back to the club. He has returned to Newcastle United from his loan spell at Shrewsbury Town and the decision is now with him

Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas

Toney’s loan spell at Shrewsbury saw him notch seven times in 26 appearances, including two penalties in the Shrews’ 4-2 defeat to the Cobblers in October.

As well as trying to seal a deal to land Toney, Thomas also confirmed he has also been working hard to attract other players to the club.

The Town chairman has revealed that another striker, whose club accepted a bid from Northampton, has already turned down the move to Sixfields in preference for a move to a bigger club, while talks are still ongoing about other players.

“We have been in talks with several targets this week,” said Thomas.

“However in fairness it is a lot tougher now that we have stepped up a division, plus we have the new loan rules which really change the thinking and planning required.

“We are looking at options on both loans and permanent transfers and actually had a bid accepted for one forward yesterday, who had been on loan in our division and done well.

“We also had personal terms basically agreed, but a bigger club eventually achieved his signature ahead of us, but we will keep working.”

Thomas is always keen to keep supporters informed when it comes to developments at Sixfields, and has assured them they will be the first to know any news when the club makes official announcements.

“Being pretty open as I am, I am always being contacted by fans about all the rumours that are out there especially on the web and social media,” said the chairman.

“All I would say is not to believe everything you see,and until we make any formal announcements nothing is completed.”

The Chron reported earlier this week that the club were aiming to sign a right-back as cover for injured pair Brendan Moloney and Aaron Phillips, but that may not be the case any more as Phillips is only set to miss a maximum of two matches.

“Some good news is that Aaron won’t be out for as long as the medical staff first thought, therefore that keeps some flexibility available on the five loans we are allowed,” said the Cobblers chairman, who has already overseen the loan signings of Gregg Wylde from Millwall and Hiram Boateng from Crystal Palace.

“With Harry Beautyman (for Peterborough) and Paul Anderson (for Ipswich) both playing right back at times during their careers, that does give Rob options for the next few games rather than bring in a right-back which would use up a loan spot for the remainder of the season and would lead to us having three right-backs on our books.

“However as with all squads and transfer windows the situation is always going to be fluid and we will react as appropriate.”